MEPs tell Slovenian PM to appoint his EU prosecutors

Previously, EU chief prosecutor Laura Kövesi described Slovenia's approach as lacking "sincere cooperation"- a prerequisite of the EU's functionality -, and undermining the new office.

On Tuesday, Janša said he would appoint the prosecutors by the autumn, and blamed procedural delays.

However, it was Janša himself who annulled the process back in May, despite the selection procedure of the two Slovenian delegates having been completed last December.

On Tuesday, Janša pointed at other member states that had not joined the EU's public prosecutor's office, such as Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Ireland and Hungary, suggesting criticism should be directed at them.

"This doesn't mean Slovenia is withdrawing, we want all the member states to participate in the EPPO," the Slovenian PM said at a press conference in Strasbourg.

The EPPO has 22 European prosecutors, and 140 delegated prosecutors residing in the participating member states that are tasked with protecting the EU's financial interests by fighting cross-border VAT fraud, money laundering, and corruption.

During the debate, German MEP Manfred Weber, who heads the centre-right parliamentary group to which Janša's Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) belongs, said he should "immediately" nominate the prosecutors.

"You should leave here having committed to nominate a representative to the EPPO. Don't wait until tomorrow to nominate someone, do it today," the Socialist group leader, Spanish MEP Iratxe Garcia said.

"That would reassure Slovenians, and [those MEPs] in this hemicycle," she added, referring to the parliamentary chamber.

Liberal Renew Europe's Dutch MEP Malik Azmani criticised the EU Commission, saying it should not have approved Slovenia's national Covid-19 recovery plan without Janša appointing the prosecutors.

If its plan gets the approval of fellow member states, Slovenia will receive the green light to access EU funds under the Covid-19 recovery plan.

But Azmani added that the "track record" of Janša means his words cannot be taken for granted.

"Unfortunately, Janez Janša seems to want to be part of a very sinister club that doesn't appreciate free media, that cannot stomach the judiciary's independence or respecting LGBTQ rights at all," he said, referring to the Slovenian PM's recent support for Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán's anti-LGBTIQ legislation.

Janša has been criticised for attacking the media at home, as well as making personal verbal attacks on judges and MEPs.

Last week in Ljubljana, EU Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans refused to join a group photograph with Janša's over the PM's "unacceptable attack" on two Slovenian judges and two socialist MEPs.

"Talking down on judges and MEPs, colleagues in this house, I wish more commissioners would have joined Timmermans," Azmani said.

At Tuesday's press conference Janša dismissed increasing criticism over judicial independence and media freedom.

Shutting down questions on the prosecutors, Janša pointed to political prisoners in Belarus and said: "There are many other problems which are immeasurably more relevant than the one we are now wasting time on."